In-lane exception handling

ABSTRACT

This disclosure describes, generally, methods and systems for implementing in-lane exception handling. The method includes displaying, on a user terminal display device, a first user interface (UI) configured to display application data in organized rows and columns, receiving, by a data management system, updates and/or edits to the application data, and calculating, by the data management system, the updated and/or edited application data. The method further includes analyzing, by the data management system, the updates and/or edits to determine one or more of associated errors, warnings, and exceptions, and displaying, within the first UI, a graphical representation for each of the errors, warnings, and exceptions in the row and/or column of the application data where the error, warning, or exception has occurred.

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates, in general, to error handling and, moreparticularly, to in-lane exception handling.

BACKGROUND

Presently, error handling and reporting in enterprise (or similar)systems requires a user to navigate away from the main transactionalarea. Thus, the ability for a user to troubleshoot errors and exceptionswithin the enterprise system is significantly limited. For example, whenan error occurs, the user must switch to an error viewing pane or windowto determine the nature of the error. Then, the user must switch back tothe transactional window of pane to determine how the error or exceptionapplies to the task the user had been working on when the error orexception occurred. Hence, the utility value of the error and exceptionreporting is greatly diminished, and accordingly improvements in the artare needed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the presentinvention may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of thespecification and the drawings wherein like reference numerals are usedthroughout the several drawings to refer to similar components. In someinstances, a sub-label is associated with a reference numeral to denoteone of multiple similar components. When reference is made to areference numeral without specification to an existing sub-label, it isintended to refer to all such multiple similar components.

FIG. 1 is a generalized schematic diagram illustrating a computersystem, in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a networked system of computers,which can be used in accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of implementing in-laneexception handling, in accordance with another embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are user interfaces, in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C are user interfaces, in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are user interfaces, in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a user interface, in accordance with another embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are user interfaces, in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a system for implementing in-laneexception handling, in accordance with another embodiment of the presentinvention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One embodiment of the present invention describes a method forimplementing in-lane exception handling. The method includes displaying,on a user terminal display device, a first user interface (UI)configured to display application data in organized rows and columns,receiving, by a data management system, updates and/or edits to theapplication data, and calculating, by the data management system, theupdated and/or edited application data. The method further includesanalyzing, by the data management system, the updates and/or edits todetermine one or more of associated errors, warnings, and exceptions,and displaying, within the first UI, a graphical representation for eachof the errors, warnings, and exceptions in the row and/or column of theapplication data where the error, warning, or exception has occurred.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a system forimplementing in-lane exception handling. The system includes a userterminal including a display device configured to display a first userinterface (UI) displaying application data in organized rows andcolumns. The system further includes a data management system configuredto receive updates and/or edits to the application data, calculate theupdated and/or edited application data, analyze the updates and/or editsto determine one or more of associated errors, warnings, and exceptions.The first UI is further configured to display a graphical representationfor each of the errors, warnings, and exceptions in the row and/orcolumn of the application data where the error, warning, or exceptionhas occurred.

A further embodiment of the present invention includes amachine-readable medium for. The machine readable medium cause a machineto display, on a user terminal display device, a first user interface(UI) configured to display application data in organized rows andcolumns. The machine readable medium further causes the machine toreceive updates and/or edits to the application data, calculate theupdated and/or edited application data, and analyze the updates and/oredits to determine one or more of associated errors, warnings, andexceptions. Then, the machine readable medium causes the machine todisplay a graphical representation for each of the errors, warnings, andexceptions in the row and/or column of the application data where theerror, warning, or exception has occurred.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

While various aspects of embodiments of the invention have beensummarized above, the following detailed description illustratesexemplary embodiments in further detail to enable one of skill in theart to practice the invention. In the following description, for thepurposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. Itwill be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the presentinvention may be practiced without some of these specific details. Inother instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in blockdiagram form. Several embodiments of the invention are described belowand, while various features are ascribed to different embodiments, itshould be appreciated that the features described with respect to oneembodiment may be incorporated with another embodiment as well. By thesame token, however, no single feature or features of any describedembodiment should be considered essential to the invention, as otherembodiments of the invention may omit such features.

According to aspects of the present invention, having the ability toidentify errors in-line and in real-time, and having all of theinformation a user needs to fix/address the error available within theapplication framework allows the user, in many instances, to fix theerror problems within the same page or sets of pages. This avoids theneed to navigate outside of the main transactional work space.Furthermore, easy identification of errors and warnings, exposure ofdetailed messages allowing for quick exception resolution, and a lowercost of ownership by saving the user time from navigating to other areasof the application framework are achieved.

FIG. 1 provides a schematic illustration of one embodiment of a computersystem 100 that can perform the methods of the invention, as describedherein. It should be noted that FIG. 1 is meant only to provide ageneralized illustration of various components, any or all of which maybe utilized as appropriate. FIG. 1, therefore, broadly illustrates howindividual system elements may be implemented in a relatively separatedor relatively more integrated manner.

The computer system 100 is shown comprising hardware elements that canbe electrically coupled via a bus 105 (or may otherwise be incommunication, as appropriate). The hardware elements can include one ormore processors 110, including without limitation, one or more generalpurpose processors and/or one or more special purpose processors (suchas digital signal processing chips, graphics acceleration chips, and/orthe like); one or more input devices 115, which can include withoutlimitation a mouse, a keyboard and/or the like; and one or more outputdevices 120, which can include without limitation a display device, aprinter and/or the like.

The computer system 100 may further include (and/or be in communicationwith) one or more storage devices 125, which can comprise, withoutlimitation, local and/or network accessible storage and/or can include,without limitation, a disk drive, a drive array, an optical storagedevice, a solid state storage device such as a random access memory(“RAM”) and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), which can be programmable,flash updateable and/or the like. The computer system 100 might alsoinclude a communications subsystem 130, which can include withoutlimitation a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infraredcommunication device, a wireless communication device and/or chipset(such as a Bluetooth™ device, an 802.11 device, a WiFi device, a WiMaxdevice, cellular communication facilities, etc.), and/or the like. Thecommunications subsystem 130 may permit data to be exchanged with anetwork (such as the network described below, to name one example),and/or any other devices described herein. In many embodiments, thecomputer system 100 will further comprise a working memory 135, whichcan include a RAM or ROM device, as described above.

The computer system 100 also can comprise software elements, shown asbeing currently located within the working memory 135, including anoperating system 140 and/or other code, such as one or more applicationprograms 145, which may comprise computer programs of the invention,and/or may be designed to implement methods of the invention and/orconfigure systems of the invention, as described herein. Merely by wayof example, one or more procedures described with respect to themethod(s) discussed above might be implemented as code and/orinstructions executable by a computer (and/or a processor within acomputer). A set of these instructions and/or codes might be stored on acomputer-readable storage medium, such as the storage device(s) 125described above. In some cases, the storage medium might be incorporatedwithin a computer system, such as the system 100. In other embodiments,the storage medium might be separate from a computer system (i.e., aremovable medium, such as a compact disc, etc.), and is provided in aninstallation package, such that the storage medium can be used toprogram a general purpose computer with the instructions/code storedthereon. These instructions might take the form of executable code,which is executable by the computer system 100 and/or might take theform of source and/or installable code, which, upon compilation and/orinstallation on the computer system 100 (e.g., using any of a variety ofgenerally available compilers, installation programs,compression/decompression utilities, etc.), then takes the form ofexecutable code.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantialvariations may be made in accordance with specific requirements. Forexample, customized hardware might also be used, and/or particularelements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portablesoftware, such as applets, etc.), or both. Further, connection to othercomputing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.

In one aspect, the invention employs a computer system (such as thecomputer system 100) to perform methods of the invention. According to aset of embodiments, some or all of the procedures of such methods areperformed by the computer system 100 in response to processor 110executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions (which mightbe incorporated into the operating system 140 and/or other code, such asan application program 145) contained in the working memory 135. Suchinstructions may be read into the working memory 135 from anothermachine-readable medium, such as one or more of the storage device(s)125. Merely by way of example, execution of the sequences ofinstructions contained in the working memory 135 might cause theprocessor(s) 110 to perform one or more procedures of the methodsdescribed herein.

The terms “machine-readable medium” and “computer readable medium,” asused herein, refer to any medium that participates in providing datathat causes a machine to operate in a specific fashion. In an embodimentimplemented using the computer system 100, various machine-readablemedia might be involved in providing instructions/code to processor(s)110 for execution and/or might be used to store and/or carry suchinstructions/code (e.g., as signals). In many implementations, acomputer-readable medium is a physical and/or tangible storage medium.Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to,non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatilemedia includes, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as thestorage device(s) 125. Volatile media includes, without limitation,dynamic memory, such as the working memory 135. Transmission mediaincludes coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including thewires that comprise the bus 105, as well as the various components ofthe communications subsystem 130 (and/or the media by which thecommunications subsystem 130 provides communication with other devices).Hence, transmission media can also take the form of waves (includingwithout limitation radio, acoustic and/or light waves, such as thosegenerated during radio wave and infrared data communications).

Common forms of physical and/or tangible computer-readable mediainclude, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, a hard disk,magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, any other opticalmedium, punchcards, papertape, any other physical medium with patternsof holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chipor cartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any othermedium from which a computer can read instructions and/or code.

Various forms of machine-readable media may be involved in carrying oneor more sequences of one or more instructions to the processor(s) 110for execution. Merely by way of example, the instructions may initiallybe carried on a magnetic disk and/or optical disc of a remote computer.A remote computer might load the instructions into its dynamic memoryand send the instructions as signals over a transmission medium to bereceived and/or executed by the computer system 100. These signals,which might be in the form of electromagnetic signals, acoustic signals,optical signals and/or the like, are all examples of carrier waves onwhich instructions can be encoded, in accordance with variousembodiments of the invention.

The communications subsystem 130 (and/or components thereof) generallywill receive the signals, and the bus 105 then might carry the signals(and/or the data, instructions, etc., carried by the signals) to theworking memory 135, from which the processor(s) 110 retrieves andexecutes the instructions. The instructions received by the workingmemory 135 may optionally be stored on a storage device 125 eitherbefore or after execution by the processor(s) 110.

Merely by way of example, FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of asystem 200 that can be used in accordance with one set of embodiments.The system 200 can include one or more user computers 205. The usercomputers 205 can be general purpose personal computers (including,merely by way of example, personal computers and/or laptop computersrunning any appropriate flavor of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows™ and/orApple Corp.'s Macintosh™ operating systems) and/or workstation computersrunning any of a variety of commercially available UNIX™ or UNIX-likeoperating systems. These user computers 205 can also have any of avariety of applications, including one or more applications configuredto perform methods of the invention, as well as one or more officeapplications, database client and/or server applications, and webbrowser applications. Alternatively, the user computers 205 can be anyother electronic device, such as a thin-client computer,Internet-enabled mobile telephone, and/or personal digital assistant(PDA), capable of communicating via a network (e.g., the network 210described below) and/or displaying and navigating web pages or othertypes of electronic documents. Although the exemplary system 200 isshown with three user computers 205, any number of user computers can besupported.

Certain embodiments of the invention operate in a networked environment,which can include a network 210. The network 210 can be any type ofnetwork familiar to those skilled in the art that can support datacommunications using any of a variety of commercially availableprotocols, including without limitation TCP/IP, SNA, IPX, AppleTalk, andthe like. Merely by way of example, the network 210 can be a local areanetwork (“LAN”), including without limitation an Ethernet network, aToken-Ring network and/or the like; a wide-area network (WAN); a virtualnetwork, including without limitation a virtual private network (“VPN”);the Internet; an intranet; an extranet; a public switched telephonenetwork (“PSTN”); an infrared network; a wireless network, includingwithout limitation a network operating under any of the IEEE 802.11suite of protocols, the Bluetooth™ protocol known in the art, and/or anyother wireless protocol; and/or any combination of these and/or othernetworks.

Embodiments of the invention can include one or more server computers215. Each of the server computers 215 may be configured with anoperating system, including without limitation any of those discussedabove, as well as any commercially (or freely) available serveroperating systems. Each of the servers 215 may also be running one ormore applications, which can be configured to provide services to one ormore clients 205 and/or other servers 215.

Merely by way of example, one of the servers 215 may be a web server,which can be used, merely by way of example, to process requests for webpages or other electronic documents from user computers 205. The webserver can also run a variety of server applications, including HTTPservers, FTP servers, CGI servers, database servers, Java™ servers, andthe like. In some embodiments of the invention, the web server may beconfigured to serve web pages that can be operated within a web browseron one or more of the user computers 205 to perform methods of theinvention.

The server computers 215, in some embodiments, might include one or moreapplication servers, which can include one or more applicationsaccessible by a client running on one or more of the client computers205 and/or other servers 215. Merely by way of example, the server(s)215 can be one or more general purpose computers capable of executingprograms or scripts in response to the user computers 205 and/or otherservers 215, including without limitation web applications (which might,in some cases, be configured to perform methods of the invention).Merely by way of example, a web application can be implemented as one ormore scripts or programs written in any suitable programming language,such as Java™, C, C#™ or C++, and/or any scripting language, such asPerl, Python, or TCL, as well as combinations of anyprogramming/scripting languages. The application server(s) can alsoinclude database servers, including without limitation thosecommercially available from Oracle™, Microsoft™, Sybase™, IBM™ and thelike, which can process requests from clients (including, depending onthe configuration, database clients, API clients, web browsers, etc.)running on a user computer 205 and/or another server 215. In someembodiments, an application server can create web pages dynamically fordisplaying the information in accordance with embodiments of theinvention. Data provided by an application server may be formatted asweb pages (comprising HTML, Javascript, etc., for example) and/or may beforwarded to a user computer 205 via a web server (as described above,for example). Similarly, a web server might receive web page requestsand/or input data from a user computer 205 and/or forward the web pagerequests and/or input data to an application server. In some cases a webserver may be integrated with an application server.

In accordance with further embodiments, one or more servers 215 canfunction as a file server and/or can include one or more of the files(e.g., application code, data files, etc.) necessary to implementmethods of the invention incorporated by an application running on auser computer 205 and/or another server 215. Alternatively, as thoseskilled in the art will appreciate, a file server can include allnecessary files, allowing such an application to be invoked remotely bya user computer 205 and/or server 215. It should be noted that thefunctions described with respect to various servers herein (e.g.,application server, database server, web server, file server, etc.) canbe performed by a single server and/or a plurality of specializedservers, depending on implementation-specific needs and parameters.

In certain embodiments, the system can include one or more databases220. The location of the database(s) 220 is discretionary. Merely by wayof example, a database 220 a might reside on a storage medium local to(and/or resident in) a server 215 a (and/or a user computer 205).Alternatively, a database 220 b can be remote from any or all of thecomputers 205, 215, so long as the database can be in communication(e.g., via the network 210) with one or more of these. In a particularset of embodiments, a database 220 can reside in a storage-area network(“SAN”) familiar to those skilled in the art. (Likewise, any necessaryfiles for performing the functions attributed to the computers 205, 215can be stored locally on the respective computer and/or remotely, asappropriate.) In one set of embodiments, the database 220 can be arelational database, such as an Oracle™ database, that is adapted tostore, update, and retrieve data in response to SQL-formatted commands.The database might be controlled and/or maintained by a database server,as described above, for example.

When users plan in the context of a project plan, budget, or forecast,each one of these planning features is comprised of a header (or aversion) as well as a number of plan lines that makeup the actualproject plan, budget, or forecast. It is important to note that theremay be a one to many relationship between the header (version) and theplan lines.

During the planning and management phase of the project life cycle aproject manager will use one or many of the planning features toestimate and control the costs and/or revenue that are incurred by theproject. During this planning phase the project manager may encounterexceptions in the application (either for the version as a whole or on aspecific plan line). These exceptions may include the following issues:bad setup data, rate schedules are not present for planned resources,scheduling of resources, approvals are not met, incorrect accountinformation, exceeding planning limits, etc.

To resolve these (and other) issues, the project manager needs theability to view the version level and line level (plan line) exceptionswithin the context of the version. This allows the user to start at thehighest level exceptions and traverse down the hierarchy of plan lineexceptions. Accompanying the ability to identify exceptions bytraversing down the plan hierarchy, the user also needs the appropriateinformation to be able to resolve the exceptions. It is this ability toquickly identify exceptions while providing the necessary information toresolve the exceptions which provides a significant benefit.

Turning now to FIG. 3, which illustrates a method 300 of implementingin-lane exception handling, according to embodiments of the presentinvention. At process block 305, a user interface is displayed. The userinterface may be displayed on a computer screen, a mobile device, acellular device, a portable device, a television, etc. The display mayincorporate user interface windows and may also be interacted with usingan input device. In one embodiment, the input device may include amouse, a pointer, a touch screen, voice activated input and the like.

At process block 310, updates and/or edits within the user interface maybe performed. For example, the user interface may be for a budgetingsystem and budgeting costs such as rates, exchange rates, labor costs,materials costs, etc. may be edited or entered. This data may be enteredmanually or may be populated from a storage database. A mechanism forcalculating and/or refreshing the user interface to display the updateddata is engaged (process block 315). In one embodiment, the mechanismmay be a user interface button, which when clicked or selected refreshesand/or updates that new data.

At process block 320, the updated/refreshed data may be analyzed todetermine errors, warnings, and/or exceptions. The warnings or errorsmay be based on, for example, missing data, incomplete data, inaccuratedata, etc. Thus, at process block 325, graphical representations of theerrors and/or warnings may be displayed in real-time. For example, ifthe data is displayed in columns and rows, then an exceptions column maybe included, and the graphical representations may be placed in thatcolumn at the row where the error occurred. Accordingly, method 300provides for real-time dynamic display of exceptions which aregraphically displayed in-lane for each in identification of the errorsand remedy of the errors.

Referring next to FIG. 4A, which illustrates a method of implementingin-lane exception handling, according to a further embodiment of thepresent invention. At process block 405, the warnings and errorsdiscussed in FIG. 3 may be displayed in a first user interface window.Then, at process block 410, a selection of one of the errors of warningsfrom the first window is received. In response to the selection, asecond window may be opened which details the warnings and errors(process block 415). Furthermore, the second window may also providedetails about errors and warnings in addition to the selected error orwarning. In addition, at process block 420, the user interface mayprovide an expansion icon for each error or warning, which when executedexpands the view of the error or warning to display additional detailsabout the error or warning. For example, a cause of the error or warningas well as a remedy for the error or warning may be displayed.

FIG. 4B illustrates a method of implementing in-lane exception handling,according to yet a further embodiment of the present invention. Atprocess block 450, an alteration of the data within the user interfacemay occur. At process block 455, a refresh/update interface button maybe executed. Then, in response, at block 460, errors or warnings whichhave been remedies may have the graphical representation removed fromthe user interface. Alternatively, if new errors or warnings occur, thennew graphical representations may be displayed.

Turning now to FIG. 5A which illustrates a user interface in accordancewith embodiments of the present invention. Shown in FIG. 5A is oneexample of a main transactional window for a budget details userinterface. Within the budget details is shown a project hierarchy witheach line having plan details. The user interface further includes anexception column. In this example user interface, there are threeexceptions shown, which are designated by an ‘X’ within a circle or an‘!’ within a triangle; nonetheless, other exception, error, and/orwarning (graphical or textual) designations may be used.

Thus, every row that has encountered an exception will have an error ora warning indicator in the exceptions column. The exceptions column maybe shown on multiple tabs (i.e., budget lines and budget line details),as well as other views (e.g., task structure, resource breakdownstructure an list). The default position (i.e., non-personalized) may bethe first column after the planning elements. Furthermore, multipleexceptions for a single resource may be displayed. In the case where aresource has encountered multiple errors the exception indicator mayonly show the graphical display (i.e., an ‘X’ within a circle) of thehighest severity.

Furthermore, the user interface may display a performance indicatorwatch list (not shown), which could display a running total of errorsand warnings for a plan, as well as a running total of resolved errorsand warnings. Each exception may be selected by the user in order tobring up a secondary user interface as in FIG. 5B. FIG. 5B shows onexample of a secondary exceptions window. The error that is selected onthe main transactional work area (see FIG. 5A) will be the row that ishighlighted (or otherwise designated) in the secondary exceptionswindow. In one embodiment, the cursor in the exceptions secondary windowwill correspond to the row selected in the main transactional work area.

For example, the user may have selected the error icon for “AmyMarlin—Consulting” in the main transactional work area. Then, when thesecondary window is rendered, the cursor position in the secondarywindow is defaulted to “Amy Marlin—Consulting”. If multiple errors arepresent for “Amy Marlin—Consulting”, then the cursor position maydefault to the first “Error” for “Amy Marlin—Consulting”. Furthermore, abrief description of the errors may be included in this secondarywindow. Additionally, an expansion icon (i.e., a plus icon on the userinterface) may be included for each error row.

FIG. 5B further shows a jumping mechanism which is currently labeled as“Error: Line 2”. This jumping mechanism allows for a drop-down menu tobe displayed, and a user to select a specific error or warning to jumpto directly. Additionally, a severity drop-down menu is also availableto filter exceptions based on, for example, warnings only, errors only,warnings and errors, etc. Further, it should be noted that the columnsin FIGS. 5A and 5B, as well as any other columns described herein, aresortable columns.

According to further aspects of the present invention, when an error inthe main transactional window is selected, and the secondary exceptionwindow is opened, the user interface input cursor may automatically beplaced over the corresponding error or warning on the secondaryexception window. In addition, if an error or warning within thesecondary exception window is selected, the view in the maintransactional window may jump to the location within that windows wherethe error occurred. Thus, the user interface quickly and easily allowsfor navigation among errors and across multiple windows.

In one embodiment, when the expansion icon is activated, then the viewas in FIG. 5C may be shown. The view in FIG. 5C shows additional detailsfor the error or warning, possible causes, as well as actions to remedythe error or warning. Accordingly, for each of the rows additionalinformation about the errors or warnings can be viewed by expanding theexpansion icon. Turning next to FIG. 6A which illustrates an alternativeview of the secondary user interface. In this view, project level errorsmay be shown in a single row, and additional error and warninginformation may be displayed when an expansion icon is activated. FIG.6B illustrates that when a row in the main viewing area is selected, therow is highlighted in both the main viewing area and the secondarywindow.

According to further embodiments of the present invention, multiple lineexception handling capability is described. This functionality may beavailable on the following user interface windows: edit Budget/ForecastPage (Task Structure), edit Budget/Forecast Page (Resource BreakdownStructure), edit Budget/Forecast Page (List), review and Finalize Page,manage Version Details Page—not able to execute the secondary windowfrom this page but the user can navigate to this page with the secondarywindow open, budgets and Forecast List Page, etc.

In addition to displaying any exceptions that apply to the version as awhole, the exceptions window may display exceptions for individual planlines. For multi-line exception handling, the exceptions window maydisplay exceptions for all lines in the main table that have exceptionsand not just for the row where the user selects the icon. This enablesthe user to continue to review exception messages without continuallynavigating back to the main window and re-selecting the exceptions iconfor another line. For example, on a budget, if six lines have anexception and the user clicks the exceptions icon for the first line,the exceptions window will contain exceptions for all six lines. Thewindow displays the task, resource, and period (if applicable)associated with each exception so that the user is made aware of thecontext for each exception.

Further embodiments of the present invention provide for trigger eventsthat will expose the exceptions, in for example, the secondary window.These trigger events include: calculate amounts, adjustments, refreshrates, save, save and close, submit, and create baseline. Upon thetriggering of one of these events, exceptions may be encountered, and ifexceptions are encountered, the secondary exceptions window may bedisplayed (i.e., the secondary window will be programmatically shown).

A refresh (either full or partial) of the exceptions data may also beexecuted. The full refresh is when all exception data will be refreshedwhen the following actions are performed: save, save and close, submit,create baseline. For example, if a user submits a budget, then allcleared exceptions will be deleted and all new exceptions will bepopulated. The partial refresh is when the data is be refreshed when auser performs one of the following actions: calculate amounts,adjustment, refresh rates, etc. In this situation, only the exceptiondata for the specific action being performed would be refreshed. Forexample, if the user calculates amounts, only the existing calculateamount exception data will be refreshed, and no other exception datawill be refreshed.

Aspects of the present invention allow for the various windows and userinterfaces to be non-modal (e.g., the secondary exception window beingopen does not restrict a user from interacting with the maintransactional work area). For example, exceptions in the secondarywindow are non-modal which allows the user to interact with the maintransactional work area while the secondary exceptions window is stilldisplayed to the user. The user has the ability to navigate to other“train stops” with the exceptions secondary window still open (as inFIG. 7).

Turning now to FIG. 7 which illustrates a user interface of a train stopview, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. A trainstop represents a step in the budget or forecast version creationbusiness flow. The three step process includes managing the details forthe version (i.e., whether to generate from another source, copy anexisting version, or manually create the version), editing the details,and reviewing and finalizing the version before submission for approval.Each step in the process is represented by a discrete train stop in theuser interface. The financial plan lines to which the exception windowreferences are found on the second train stop where the user edits thebudget or forecast lines. When the exceptions window is displayed on theother train stops, the highlighting of the planning elements in the mainwindow does not take place as the lines for the planning elements arenot displayed on the other two train stops. All train behavior stillapplies in this case and the exceptions window does not supersede thetrain behavior logic. When the user interacts with the secondary windowoutside of, for example, the Edit Budget/Forecast Train stop, thehighlighting of the planning elements are no longer valid and theexceptions window is used purely for reference and may not be used as anavigational aid.

Turning now to FIGS. 8A and 8B which illustrate region information forversion level exceptions handling, in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention. The display of the exceptions icon may be for eachbudget/forecast version for a project for any exceptions which have beenencountered. The exceptions may be stored at the periodic and theversion levels. Multiple exceptions for a version are where a versionhas encountered multiple exceptions and the exception indicator willshow the icon of the highest severity (i.e., either error or warninghyperlink to the edit Budget/Forecast windows). Upon user selection ofthe exceptions icon the user will be navigated to the editbudget/forecast page. The first exception in the version may behighlighted with the cursor on line (transactional work area.)

The exceptions secondary page may be open upon entry to the editbudget/forecast page with the first exception for the versionhighlighted. Display of exceptions for versions that have a workingstatus may be displayed as exceptions for versions regardless of thestatus. Versions with a status other than working would likely not haveerrors, but could possible have warnings.

Furthermore, version level errors are errors that have been encounteredfor an entire version and will be associated to the root node of a taskstructure (e.g., a default H-Grid view). Upon entering the edit budgetor forecast page via the exceptions icon on the versions page, theversion level errors may be listed first in the exceptions secondarywindow. The exceptions indicator might only be shown for the taskstructure view, and not the planning and/or list view.

In a further embodiment, a period view may be displayed. For example, ina budget for a 12 month period, one error in one month may be the samefor most or all other months. Thus, instead of displaying the error 12times, once for each period, a consolidated period view may bedisplayed. Hence, a more manageable and easier way to read a periodfiltered error and warnings display is shown.

Turning now to FIG. 9 which illustrates a system 900 for implementingin-lane exception handling, in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention. System 900 includes a budgeting system 905 whichincludes a user interface 910. Budgeting system 905 is in communicationwith a data repository 915 and a terminal 920. System 900 is configuredto implement any one of the methods described in FIG. 3, 4A, or 4B, aswell as display any of the user interface windows in FIGS. 5A-8B.

While the invention has been described with respect to exemplaryembodiments, one skilled in the art will recognize that numerousmodifications are possible. For example, the methods and processesdescribed herein may be implemented using hardware components, softwarecomponents, and/or any combination thereof. Further, while variousmethods and processes described herein may be described with respect toparticular structural and/or functional components for ease ofdescription, methods of the invention are not limited to any particularstructural and/or functional architecture but instead can be implementedon any suitable hardware, firmware, and/or software configuration.Similarly, while various functionalities are ascribed to certain systemcomponents, unless the context dictates otherwise, this functionalitycan be distributed among various other system components in accordancewith different embodiments of the invention.

Moreover, while the procedures comprised in the methods and processesdescribed herein are described in a particular order for ease ofdescription, unless the context dictates otherwise, various proceduresmay be reordered, added, and/or omitted in accordance with variousembodiments of the invention. Moreover, the procedures described withrespect to one method or process may be incorporated within otherdescribed methods or processes; likewise, system components describedaccording to a particular structural architecture and/or with respect toone system may be organized in alternative structural architecturesand/or incorporated within other described systems. Hence, while variousembodiments are described with—or without—certain features for ease ofdescription and to illustrate exemplary features, the various componentsand/or features described herein with respect to a particular embodimentcan be substituted, added and/or subtracted from among other describedembodiments, unless the context dictates otherwise. Consequently,although the invention has been described with respect to exemplaryembodiments, it will be appreciated that the invention is intended tocover all modifications and equivalents within the scope of thefollowing claims.

1. A method of implementing in-lane exception handling, the methodcomprising: displaying, on a user terminal display device, a first userinterface (UI) configured to display application data in organized rowsand columns; receiving, by a data management system, updates and/oredits to the application data; calculating, by the data managementsystem, the updated and/or edited application data; analyzing, by thedata management system, the updates and/or edits to determine one ormore of associated errors, warnings, and exceptions; and displaying,within the first UI, a graphical representation for each of the errors,warnings, and exceptions in the row and/or column of the applicationdata where the error, warning, or exception has occurred.
 2. A method ofimplementing in-lane exception handling as in claim 1, furthercomprising receiving a selection of at least one or the rows and/orcolumns including an error, warning, or exception.
 3. A method ofimplementing in-lane exception handling as in claim 2, furthercomprising in response to the selection, displaying a second UIincluding an entries listing of each of the errors, warnings, orexceptions contained in each or the rows and/or columns of the first UI.4. A method of implementing in-lane exception handling as in claim 3,wherein upon displaying of the second UI, a cursor is automaticallyplaced over the error, warning, or exception associated with theselected row and/or column.
 5. A method of implementing in-laneexception handling as in claim 3, further comprising providing expansionicons for each of the entries.
 6. A method of implementing in-laneexception handling as in claim 5, further comprising: receiving aselection of at least one of the expansion icons; and in response toreceiving the selection of at least one of the expansion icons,displaying information about the error, warning, or exception.
 7. Amethod of implementing in-lane exception handling as in claim 6, whereinthe information comprises one or more of the following: details of theerror, warning, or exception, causes of the error, warning, orexception, and actions to remedy the error, warning, or exception.
 8. Amethod of implementing in-lane exception handling as in claim 1, furthercomprising receiving a change or edit to the application data.
 9. Amethod of implementing in-lane exception handling as in claim 8, furthercomprising receiving a selection of a refresh/update interface icon. 10.A method of implementing in-lane exception handling as in claim 9,further comprising in response to receiving the selection, removing thegraphical representation for remedied rows and/or columns.
 11. A methodof implementing in-lane exception handling as in claim 10, wherein theremoval or displaying of the graphical representations is dynamicallyperformed in real-time.
 12. A method of implementing in-lane exceptionhandling as in claim 1, wherein the errors, warnings, and exceptionscomprise one or more of the following: missing data, incomplete data,inaccurate data, and improper currency conversion.
 13. A method ofimplementing in-lane exception handling as in claim 1, wherein the UIfurther includes a column for displaying a severity indication of theerrors, warnings, and exceptions.
 14. A system for implementing in-laneexception handling, the system comprising: a user terminal including adisplay device configured to display a first user interface (UI)displaying application data in organized rows and columns; and a datamanagement system configured to receive updates and/or edits to theapplication data, calculate the updated and/or edited application data,analyze the updates and/or edits to determine one or more of associatederrors, warnings, and exceptions, and wherein the first UI is furtherconfigured to display a graphical representation for each of the errors,warnings, and exceptions in the row and/or column of the applicationdata where the error, warning, or exception has occurred.
 15. A systemfor implementing in-lane exception handling as in claim 14, wherein thedata management system is further configured to receive a change or editto the application data.
 16. A system for implementing in-lane exceptionhandling as in claim 15, wherein the data management system is furtherconfigured to receive a selection of a refresh/update interface icon, inresponse to receiving the selection, and remove the graphicalrepresentation for remedied rows and/or columns.
 17. A machine-readablemedium for implementing in-lane exception handling, having sets ofinstructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:display, on a user terminal display device, a first user interface (UI)configured to display application data in organized rows and columns;receive updates and/or edits to the application data; calculate theupdated and/or edited application data; analyze the updates and/or editsto determine one or more of associated errors, warnings, and exceptions;and display a graphical representation for each of the errors, warnings,and exceptions in the row and/or column of the application data wherethe error, warning, or exception has occurred.
 18. A machine-readablemedium for implementing in-lane exception handling as in claim 17,wherein the sets of instructions, when further executed by the machine,cause the machine to receive a selection of at least one of the rowsand/or columns including an error, warning, or exception.
 19. Amachine-readable medium for implementing in-lane exception handling asin claim 18, wherein the sets of instructions, when further executed bythe machine, cause the machine to, in response to the selection, displaya second UI including entries listing of each of the errors, warnings,or exceptions contained in each of the rows and/or columns of the firstUI.
 20. A machine-readable medium for implementing in-lane exceptionhandling as in claim 19, wherein the errors, warnings, and exceptionscomprise one or more of the following: missing data, incomplete data,inaccurate data, and improper currency conversion.